Find Our Way Home
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: The Savior destroyed the evil god Bhunivelze and was gifted with their promised world. Their dreams of peace are shattered, along with what they thought was reality, when they awaken on Gaia, prisoners of AVALANCH being saved by one of the three legendary SOLDIER Generals, Genesis Rhapsodos.
1. Awakened

**Author's Note: I know, I'm sorry! I shouldn't be making any more stories but I really can't help myself. The basic idea for this one belongs to my brother. He was the one who came up with it. I'm just giving it my own twist! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing much. Maybe language and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 4,021**

"This is it," Lightning says, turning to look back at the smiling faces of her friends. Her family. Beyond them, is all of the souls of the people she saved, and those that Vanille saved from the Chaos. They change back into glowing orbs of light, easier for transportation to their new world. Their new world. Her bright blue eyes, newly brightened with the return of the piece of herself she's been missing for so long, she forgot that she had been missing it in the first place.

Lightning catches a movement. Serah, beloved and beautiful Serah alive again, was bringing her hand back for that fool of a fiancée of hers to grin broadly - an unquestionable smile filled with relief, happiness and love - and reach out toward her too and take her small hand in his larger one.

Odin and his fellow eidolons - along with Mog - head into the light. The light that will become the path toward their new world. Their new universe. Away from gods and the age of the crystals. The age of fal'Cie and l'Cie. The age of the Ceith and Chaos. All of that was over. It was time for them to move on to a new planet. A fresh start for everyone, but the memories will always exist, as they were always meant to.

Lightning smiles.

Vanille and Fang both turn toward each other, faces nearly splitting in half with their smiles. Their fingers are interlaced and they are floating around in small circles linked together. The tremendous weight of the voices of the dead finally released from Vanille's shoulders has left her blindingly happy and relieved. No longer does she feel responsible for all of the horrible things of the past. Because of her, all of the dead are able to move on to the new world to be reborn. Fang no longer has to fear losing her long-time friend to her own sadness. Vanille has finally found peace, and with that, so has Fang.

Dajh and Sazh are united again. Dajh sits upon Sazh's shoulders, looking around at all the pretty lights, dark eyes wide in amazement and awe. He's young, very young, and may never truly remember the world that they came from. No like the rest of them will. Even other children had been alive for hundreds of years and were able to retain the memories forged during those times. Like Luka. But little Dajh has been sleeping for so long it's hard to imagine much of this world will stick with him, but perhaps that's not completely a bad thing. Sazh will remember. Lightning can see it in his eyes. Sazh will remember almost losing his son - twice - and still managing to find hope and keep living on long enough to get Dajh back. In this new world, it'll be a safer - hopefully - and kinder world for Dajh to grow up in. For him to peacefully forget the woes of the world he came from before.

In this new world, Serah and Snow can finally marry. They have been waiting over five hundred years for this moment and Lightning doubts that they will wait much longer for the moment once they get to this new world. Should they all remember one another. Should they somehow go to this new world and remember everything from the world they came from, Snow and Serah will finally be together. Their star-crossed romance will finally find a conclusion - not in death - but in marriage and hopefully a long, blissful life with one another.

Their love can survive anything now. For over five hundred years they've waited for one another. For the life they felt they could only share with each other. Now they will finally have the chance to settle down and make their shared dream a reality. The way they look at each other, even now, after so long, is filled with so much love that has transcended their time apart. It's like those hundreds of years were only moments.

Noel and Yeul, floating hand and hand, stare into the bright light with eager anticipation. After so long in being apart, they can finally be together. Two friends ripped apart by destiny, a Goddess and time. Something that Lightning, at one point, thought was impossible to deny, to somehow get the upper hand on. But then she, along with people she later would never trade for the world, became pawns in a large game of gods and they had no logical choice but to deny their destinies and fight back with every fiber of their beings in order to protect themselves, each other, and everyone they've ever loved.

And Hope. A child again with eyes wide and wiser than Lightning has ever seen in someone his age. Throughout most of this, while everyone was tossed and twisted one way or another by gods of all kinds of statures, Hope has probably had it one of the worst. The mind of an adult stuck in the body of a child and the memories of being the voice of Bhunivelze. His parents are gone, but now their souls wait for him on the other side, in the new world. Maybe he'll see them again. Maybe he won't.

Lightning doesn't know what will happen, but she hopes that somehow, what transpired on this planet will somehow remain with them forever. She doesn't want to be haunted by the lives she took, or the people she failed to save, but she doesn't believe they should be forgotten. They deserve to live on somehow and be learned from.

"We're ready, sis," Snow says, bring Lightning from her thoughts. She looks over at the Patron, smiling faintly, when he grins back at her. "We're all ready to go home."

Serah draws her eyes over to Lightning and nods. "We're here with you."

"Lead the way, Soldier-girl," Sazh says, hands of Dajh's knees to keep the boy on his shoulders balanced.

Vanille and Fang both straighten out, looking over at Lightning and smiling brightly at her, heads bobbing encouragingly. Noel gives Lightning a thumbs-up and Yeul dips her chin a bit, green eyes wiser for having lived more than a thousand different lifetimes.

Hope smiles up at her. "Let's go, Light."

Lightning nods slowly, her eyes scanning her friends, each in turn. Her eyes land on Serah's for a split second longer, taking in the fact that her little sister was finally there with her. Serah was finally safely back with her. They could finally be together. Then her eyes landed on Snow and she nods slowly at first, then once more, sharply and surely.

"Come on," Lightning says, giving her friends and family a half smile, "let's head on home."

Everyone nods in agreement and float after her. Lightning turns toward the light and as she gets closer, she closes her eyes, not sure what else to expect. But her forehead bonking against a smooth, invisible surface wasn't one of the many different things that passed through her mind. Lightning opens her eyes and pulls back, looking at the light in front of her, confused.

"The hell?" Lightning mutters, wondering if she had imaged her head hitting something.

"Somethin' wrong, Ligh'?" Fang calls out from behind her.

"Um...no," Lightning says softly, reaching her hand out in front of her, wondering if she would touch an invisible surface again. She didn't. Maybe she did just imagine it. Yes, with everything she's gone through - especially in the last thirteen days - it's expected that she's going to be slightly losing her mind. Lightning shakes her head, trying to clear her mind. It's stress. It's got to be.

Lightning starts to move forward again only to stop again when a shadow appears in the light, approaching them.

"What?" Snow says softly.

"Someone's coming here," Vanille says, a hint of warning in her voice.

"Again?" Fang says sharply.

Lightning backs up a bit, hoping that this wasn't another person - certainly not Bhunivelze, not with Caius and the rest of the Yeuls watching over him now forever - that wanted to fight them. This was suppose to be the end. They were suppose to be heading to the new world, to start their new lives. This had better not be someone else with a chip on their shoulder.

"So tense," the person says, and their voice is familiar to Lightning. The shadow appeared in front of them, obviously a man, but Lightning couldn't immediately place his voice. But someone else could.

"Dad?" Hope says, breathlessly.

Lightning glances back at the wide eyed white haired boy before squinting forward again. "Bartholomew? Is that you?"

Bartholomew looks between all of them, looking the exact same as the first, and last time really, that Lightning saw him. He smiles, but it's strange. It doesn't look like a real smile.

"Hello everyone," Bartholomew says calmly, looking at them. "It's nice to see that all of you were able to make it this far. You finally did it. You finally beat Bhunivelze, Ms. Farron. The Creators will be most pleased. But for now, you'll have to go back."

"What?" Lightning says sharply, eyebrows pulling together tightly.

"Dad?" Hope asks, a mixture of shocked and confused. "What are you talking about?"

Bartholomew shakes his head. "Sorry Hope, but I am not your father. I am merely a program made in his image."

"What are you talking about?" Hope asks, shaking his head.

Bartholomew's smile falls into cold detachment. "I am a failsafe put in place by one of Creators should you have managed to made this far - and he was smart to have put me here, or else you all would be stuck here at the end with no idea on what to do next. I'm here to congratulate you now and let you know that you did a wonderful job. Wonderful. Now, you will go back to the original first thirteen days and start the trial over again. Once you return to this point, there will be something for you to move on to. Perhaps a new trial."

"What does that mean, 'something to move on to'?" Snow asks, pulling Serah behind himself a bit. She looks up at him with wide eyes before looking back over at Bartholomew.

The image of Hope's father tilts his head tot he side. "Unfortunately, no one thought that you would be able to make it to this point and so there is nothing beyond this point for you to go to." He makes a gesture toward the light and stars beyond. "It's all just data creating a background. Nothing more."

"Data...?" Serah says slowly, glancing over at a narrow eyed Noel. "Like... a computer? We're in a computer?"

"A simulation, Ms. Farron," Bartholomew says, this time to Serah, "is more precise. You are in a simulated world."

"Are you saying everything is a lie?" Vanille asks, horrified, her hands flying up to her face in shock.

Bartholomew glances over at her now. "I'm not sure I understand. Lie? No. It was all a simulation. Everything but you. Everyone here now, was all part of the simulation. You are the only real things here. Everything - situations, conversations, places - were all constructed by the Creators. Even the people. Although most, unlike myself, are just situational programs whereas I am a complex virtual intelligence."

"Caius isn't real...?" Yeul asks softly, her eyebrows pulling together slightly.

"Caius Ballad here in the program is not real, but he was based off a real living person, if my data can be trusted, I'm not sure how long I've been in failsafe mode. Just like Bartholomew Estheim in this story is based off of the real Bartholomew Estheim."

"Sorry Hope," Fang say, looking over at the white haired boy, "but I don' give a shit. What the hell do ya mean we're in a simulation? Are you saying that this isn't real?"

"Yes," fake-Bartholomew says. "By my understanding, this has been an advance training regiment for super-soldier sleeper agents. Here you have been taught how to use magic, hone your muscles and mental capabilities to prepare you for your real mission. I'm not sure when you will be finished training, but I assure you, you should be proud of your progress thus far. Impressive."

Lightning glares at him. "You don't understand anything, do you? We are human beings, trapped in a fake world! There is nothing about this that should be praise worthy! This is a nightmare!"

The image of Bartholomew tilts his head again, unsympathetic. "I'm sorry that you feel that way. But don't worry. You won't remember this exchange. You will go back to the original thirteen days and try again, with no memory of the previous time you've been there. If my sensors are up to day, this next restart of the thirteen days will mark the fourteen time that you've gone through the simulation."

"God-damned thirteen!" Fang snarls, pulling out her spear and aiming it Bartholomew. "I fuckin' hate that number!"

Bartholomew smiles, cold and detached. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Ms. Oerba. But worry not, you won't rem-rem-rem-rem-ber-ber-ber," Bartholomew twitches violently. After a split second of him sputter off noises with no tangible understanding, he explodes. Sorta. He disappears in a violent explosion of data before he, and the rest of the universe, including their ticket to the new world, turns to data and disappears.

"What the hell?" Snow asks. Everyone looks around, watching the space around them turn into stings of fata before disappearing into nothing.

Yeul looks over at the disappearing universe with wide, green eyes. "Something powerful is here."

The entire universe goes dark.

* * *

Lightning opens her eyes and the first thing she sees is green. She tries to speak, but there is something in her mouth, down her throat. Air is filtering in and out of her lungs, forming bubbles in front of her face every time she exhales. She reaches through the green water to touch the smooth glass in front of her. Through it she can see a man staring in at her, his eyes wide.

His lips are moving but she can't hear him. It doesn't matter, though, he's not talking to her. There is about a dozen different people the room with them, that are Lightning's friends. It's a large, but narrow room that they are in. One both sides of the room there is a line of tubes filled with Lightning and her friends. Slowly, but surely, everyone is waking up and looking around, dazed and confused.

In the tube directly across from Lightning is Sazh. He's awake and looking around. He tries to breath out of sync with whatever has been giving him oxygen and ends up making choking gestures before managing to get back in sync again. Something happens in the far side of the room, a door, Lightning thinks, is blasted up, large metal chunks thrown into the room. Before anyone has any time to really react, bullets go flying into the room, slaughtering the people in front of Lightning.

Vanille, who was to the left of Sazh, jerks violently, eyes widening in shock. Within seconds, everyone, other than Lightning and her friends are dead and strange people wearing all blue long sleeves and pants clothes, a green scarf and a helmet that covers their eyes with three glowing red lights on the front come charging in, guns raised.

As they filter into the room, they check the bodies and look up at the people in the tanks while tilting their heads to the side.

Lightning looks through the opening, past Hope's tank to her left, and watches as a figure dressed in all black with a long red coat and hair, steps into the room, looking around with mild disinterest. He looks to the first tank to his right, it's Noel. He tilts his head slightly, saying something Lightning couldn't hear, before looking over at the tank to his left, Fang's tank and his eyes widen noticeably in shock. His head snaps toward the soldiers in the room and snaps something, waving his hand around and the men start scanning the controls in front of the tanks, looking for something.

Lightning runs her fingers across the smooth surface of the glace in front of her. Who were these people? Were they the 'Creators'? No, it must have been the people who were there before. They looked like scientists. Were _they_ the 'Creators'? If so, then Lightning was kind of glad that they were no longer a problem. By that doesn't stop the issue with what was going on.

Everything they had gone through... it was all a simulation? Lightning just couldn't believe that. How could all of that have been a simulation? It wasn't just a few days... it was their life.

Fang leans forward a bit, looking through the murky green water at the frowning red head on the other side. His face, while devilishly handsome, is unfamiliar to her, but there was something about those eyes. The enrapturing blue, glowing brightly with an ethereal shine was achingly familiar. Something in Fang's chest tightened in remembrance, even if her brain couldn't conjure up any memories of this person. While beautiful, it was strange that only his eyes would be familiar to her.

The tips of her fingers touch the smooth, cool glass separating Fang from the mysterious red haired man staring in at her with angry narrowed eyes. However unnerving that glare and the undeniable intensity behind it is in her direction yet Fang doesn't feel any of the anger. Not really. While he's glaring, and his eyes are staring at her, the glare is directed at something beyond her. Not behind her or anything like that, but like the source of his rage is in the room with them, but he can easily see it in his mind's eye.

The man sighs, creases between his eyes smooth out and he reaches up to touch the spot on the other side of the glass from Fang's fingers. A part of Fang's mind wanted to pull her fingers away. She didn't know this person, while his eyes were familiar, she didn't want to forge some invisible connection between them. She didn't need him. But she couldn't pull away. She doesn't know this person, yet she can't deny him when looking into those glowing blue orbs. They were so achingly familiar that Fang couldn't look away.

There is a loud wailing noise that pulls Lightning away from staring at her dark skinned friend and the strange man to look at the soldier in front of her. He was pressing some buttons on the counsel connected to her pod and the wailing noise began. He steps back a bit, as if worried he broke something, but then the water started to drain from the pod. He looks over at the others and says something, but his voice is muffled, like the siren, by the water.

Thankfully the siren dies before Lightning's head reemerges from the green water. She sinks to the bottom of the tank, her legs shaky and unable to hold her up. She watches as the other pods start to drain as well. Once Lightning's pod is empty there is a pressurized seal that snaps open and the pod slowly splits into two, opening up for the soldier to reach out and take her arm and pull her from the pod and onto the cold ground. The marble floor shocks Lightning's skin, making gooseflesh appear.

Lightning, along with everyone else, was in a pair of white, skin tight shorts to about the middle of the thighs, and all the girls had a skin tight white band around their chest to keep their breasts bound. It was kind of hard to breath in. A different man, this one dressed completely similar to the soldiers but with a white scarf instead of a green one, drops to a knee in front of Lightning, looking at the contraption in her mouth hat leads back up to the pod.

"This may be a bit uncomfortable, ma'am, but please bare with it," the white scarfed soldier says, reaching forward to lightly rub at Lightning's throat. She could feel the tube in her throat, no doubt what he was looking for, and flinched at the strange feeling. She had to force herself to relax her throat as to not work up her gag reflex.

His fingers follow the length of her throat until his finger brush her collarbone before pulling back and laying his gun down next to him. Lightning eyes it for a moment but stays calm and relaxed.

"Can you get it out?" A smooth voice asks. Lightning's eyes flicker over to the red haired man. He hasn't left Fang's side, but was looking at her. At first, blankly, but then he got a good look at her face and a flash of recognition crosses his expression again. Lightning almost expected his eyes to narrow in anger again, like it had with Fang when he seemingly recognized her, but instead of anger, the color drained from his face, as if he's seen something horrible.

"Yes, General," the man in front of Lightning says, pulling her attention back to him. She could see other soldiers pulling her friends from the pods and lowering them onto the cold ground. They shiver just like Lightning did. "Alright, ma'am, I need you to start coughing. Just keep going, don't stop."

Lightning nods slightly before doing as he asked. It was odd how hard it was trying to do that. But as she coughed, he removed the tube from her throat - which was even weirder - but once it was gone, she was relieved to be able to breath on her own. Her throat was horrible sore and raw, but it was something she could overlook if she had to to be able to breath freely. It was some sort of plastic tube that was sticking down her throat. It makes the rose haired older sister grimace at the sight of it.

Lightning looks over at the red haired man, who was still staring at her with this horrified look on his face.

"You..." she croaks, unable to form words. When was the last time she had spoken? How long was she and her friends in those pods? Who were those people that had them? What was real?

The man - a _general_ Lightning hears - holds his hand up to stop her, stepping aside so someone can open Fang's tank. After a quick glance to see them taking care of her, he walks over to Lightning, taking the place of the medic - Lightning assumes - as he moves over to Snow, who was next to Lightning's tank, to help him remove the plastic tube from his throat.

The man puts his hand onto Lightning's shoulder in a personal way that shows a familiarity that Lightning didn't know she had with this person. "Don't try to speak, Claire," the man says. "You're alright now." He shakes his head slowly, eyes scanning her face. "I can't believe you guys were actually here. Sephiroth is going to be so happy to hear that we've finally found you."

Lightning couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did this stranger just call her Claire? And who in the world is Sephiroth? Where the hell were they? What was going on?


	2. Find Yourselves

**Author's Note: Hello! It seems like there is a little bit of interest in this story and I'm inspired! While I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter I needed to get it out. Thank you for giving me your input thus far! I love hearing what you have to say! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **Warnings: Nothing much. Maybe language, un-beta'd and OOCness.**

 **Word Count: 6,598**

Lightning stares at the red haired man for a long moment, mentally debating with herself. There was something about him, as she stared into his strange, almost _glowing_ blue eyes that radiates power. He wasn't someone to easily mess with, or foolishly. If he was one of their enemies - and 'their' being a vague group of people that either encompasses these people along with her friends or it doesn't - then she wasn't sure she wanted to be on his bad side. At least not in the weakened position that she's in.

But at the same time, she didn't know him. This man, while somewhat knowledgeable about her, she knew nothing about him. Her and her friends and family were in danger. Until they knew where they were, who they were with and what was going on, no one was to be trusted. There was just her and those she trusted and the rest of the world. While this man has already shown that he knows her to some degree, he's throwing names of people she's never heard of and have no proof of any connection with.

Lightning's eyes flicker down to the gun by the red head's side and has to physically stop herself from leaping to it and probably making a huge mistake by pointing it at the guy with the threat to fire. There was something about this man that didn't settle well with Lightning. Something absolutely lethal. His face was calm but the way he holds himself is definitely that of a soldier. His muscles are tense and his vision is sharp. He couldn't be that much older than her and he was already a general. He wasn't someone to be taken lightly. Even if Lightning didn't know these people, she knew people. Soldiers especially, and it wasn't smart to make a move like that while knowing nothing.

She'll have to fight the urge to fight for now and hope that it's not the biggest mistake of her life.

Lightning runs her fingers through her hair, feeling like she needs to do something to occupy her hands lest her instincts overpower her rational reasoning and closes her eyes tightly. She had to get her mind together.

"Claire," the red head says, tilting his head to the side, "are you okay?"

Lightning opens her eyes and stares at him, mentally debating. She didn't know what she should do. Should she try and keep it a secret? Play along and see what she can learn? Or should she just let the cat out of the bag? These weren't the people that was holding her, Serah and their friends hostage in those tubes, forcing them to relive hell over and over again - and for what?

Perhaps... a little faith can go a long ways.

"No," Lightningh rasps, throat sore. "No, I'm not okay. None of us are. Who are you?"

The man tilts his head slightly, as if her words didn't make any sense to him. He looks around with his eyes for a moment before they land on Lightning again. "Say again," he says after a pregnant silence. "What do you mean?"

"What part of that was unclear?" Lightning asks blithely, then quickly reins in her anger. "Sorry."

The red head blinks a few times slowly. "You... you have no idea who I am?" His words are incredulous, as if the idea of her not knowing him was absurd.

Lightning shakes her head. "I think I speak for all of us," she makes a vague gesture at all of her friends around her, "when I say that. I could be wrong, but I don't know any of you." Her eyes scan the room, showing her blatant mistrust.

The man frowns, deeply. His eyes flicker over to Fang, who was finishing coughing out the breathing tube. He stares at her for a moment before looking back over at Lightning. "None of you?"

Lightning shakes her head.

The man looks like he doesn't believe her. His eyes flicker up to Fang. She stares back at him, her eyes dark and without recognition. The man frowns deeply, a crease forming between his eyes. The air around him grows tense and all of the soldiers in the room stop moving, like they can feel the tension in the air as it crackles around them.

"Are you serious?" the man asks Lightning, voice quiet and even.

Lightning swallows, wondering if she made a mistake in her judgment. Was she wrong to think that this was the right path to take? Did she just condemn her sister, her friends and herself to death by this strangely enigmatic red headed general?

"Yes," she says, voice surprisingly even, despite the tension coiling in her belly. "I haven't the faintest clue who you are. None of us do."

"Are you lying, Claire? Please, if you're lying, I don't care, just tell me..." the man says, blue eyes peering into her own. Even with the visible tension in the room, his eyes are pleading, begging her to take her words back, admit to lying. But she couldn't.

"I'm not," Lightning says. "I'm sorry." Sorry? Why should she be sorry? Even if she wanted to be incredulous about this, she was actually too afraid to. She knew herself well enough to know she wasn't in tip top shape.

And if what she fears happened is the truth, then her tip top shape might be practically nothing anymore.

The man curses, flying to his feet to start pacing, snarling something incomprehensible under his breath. He looks around for a moment, as if the answer to this problem would be floating around his head. He brings his hand up, fingers curling into a fist, and brings it down toward the wall at the opposite end of the room from the door, pausing only a hair's breath away from the wall, staring down at Vanille, who was looking up at him, worried.

"Vanille," he says, letting his hand drop to his side, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He lets out a long breath, shoulders dropping a bit.

Vanille looks a bit caught off guard, this strange man knowing her name, but she quickly gets control of her expression and nods slowly. "Thank you, mister..." she says softly, voice crackly from lack of use, her words furthering Lightning's. None of them knew who he was.

The red haired man looks distressed for a moment before schooling his features. "Alright, radio in for the helicopter. We need immediate evac." His eyes scan the room for a moment. "We need to evac ten VIPs. Get moving."

One of the solders at the other side of the room snaps to attention, nodding once, briskly with a sharp, "Yessir!" before running down the hall the opposite way.

The red haired man looks down at the rest of the room, everyone staring at him. The men awaiting their orders while Lightning and her friends don't know who else to turn to. At this moment in time, they really had no one else in the world they could trust.

"My name is Genesis Rhapsodos," the man says, looking around at Lightning and her friends in turn, eyes lingering on Fang a few moments longer than the rest before moving on. "I know a few of you just by looking at you, but not all." His eyes flicker to Snow and then his eyebrows pull together, confused. "Look up at me for a moment," he says.

Snow, who looked down to rub at his eyes, doesn't respond, not knowing he was being spoken to.

"Snow," Serah says softly, clutching her throat.

"Yeah, babe?" Snow says, clearing his throat, then flinching. Lightning rolls her eyes. She could have told him that was a bad idea.

"Mr. Rhapsodos is speaking to you," Serah says, her eyes narrowed a bit in sympathy for his pain.

Snow blinks before looking up at Genesis. "Oh," he rasps, "sorry. What did you say?"

Genesis takes a few steps across the room to get a closer look at Snow, eyebrows pulled together tightly. He stares at Snow for a moment, making the blond slightly uncomfortable by the intensity of the gaze before Genesis closes his eyes and lets out a deep sigh. "Shit."

The nearest soldier tilts his head to the side, looking between Snow and Genesis. "Sir..?"

Genesis opens his eyes and gazes across the room at doorway, but his eyes were thousands of miles away, seeing something in his memory. "Shit," he says again. He blinks a few times before looking down at the soldier and sighing. "It looks like we found one of our missing SOLDIERs." He shakes his head before walking across the room toward the doors. "Get these VIPs something to cover themselves with and then bring them outside. Bravo team, come with me and secure the hallway, no one comes out of their rooms. Let's move."

* * *

It took ten minutes. Ten strange minutes until all off them have a blanket thrown over them as they stand up and walk out of the room, down an old, shady hall with dangling lights without covers to a narrow flight of stairs. They climb those to hit a landing, then there is another flight of stairs going the opposite way, They climb those too to see another flight.

It took five minutes for them to finally reach the main level of what appeared to be a large, run-down apartment complex. The desk attendant was sitting on the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back. There was soldiers everywhere, holding the elevators open, standing on the stairwell - a different one, this one probably leading up rather than down into the subbasement - and quite a few men scattered around the lobby and dotting the outside of the building.

Lightning and her friends all huddle close as they head out the front doors into the bright, afternoon light. All of them leaning away and covering their eyes. It's the first time in a long time that any of them have been outside and while they were able to walk, the fatigue was real, but surprisingly, their muscles are still mostly in tact. This must not be the first time they were out - of the tank, probably not the building - and they were able to get a degree of excersize before being put through hell. Again.

Thirteen.

That is the worst number in the entire world. It's always been associated with bad luck but that takes on a whole new meaning to Lightning and her friends. If she never sees anything that has to do with thirteen ever again, it won't be soon enough.

Lightning forces herself to get used to the light, not comfortable leaving herself and her friends completely and utterly at the mercy of the people around her. She knows that, whether she likes it or not, she's going to have to rely on these strange people, but she was going to get her feet under her as soon as she possibly could, and then she was going to start figuring her life out.

They were lead to an adjacent building with a heli-pad on the roof. Genesis was there talking into his phone with an angry snarl on his face.

"I'm telling you, Angeal, not a word! I've already spoken with Tseng, Reno and Rude are already two hours out from here. I'll be taking them to the main base and have them looked over." A pause. Genesis lets out a heavy sigh, running his free hand through his hair, glancing over at them as they approach. "It's not looking good, Angeal. Yeah, I'll see you soon. Yeah, bye."

Genesis snaps his phone shut and looks over at them with a tired, sad expression on his face. It's different than before. The threatening air is no longer looming over him. He just looks tired and sad.

"Come," he says, holding a hand out toward them. "We'll take you somewhere safe. Have a medical team take a look at all of you to see the extent of the damage."

"Holy shit!" Fang gasps, turned away from them. "Is that a goddamned _cannon_ strapped to that _mountain?_ "

Lightning spun around, along side everyone else, to see just as she said. A gigantic cannon is without a doubt dangling over the city, held up by a mountain. Lightning would be lying if she said her jaw didn't drop.

"Oh my..." Serah gasps, a hand flying to her face.

"What would you ever need something that big for?" Noel asks, eyes blown wide. "That's insane!"

Genesis lets out a mirthless laugh. "Yeah, I would have to agree. But I'm not the one that gets to make the decisions. Anyway, come, I'll answer all of your questions but we should get going now."

Everyone stood there, staring in awe for a few moments longer before following after him. If he's offering free medical care that they would definitely need, they weren't going to complain - for the time being. Unfortunately, they are placed into a predicament that they can't easily escape right now. So, for as long as they have to, they will play along and do as their told.

It doesn't matter who they used to be. They are who they are. Even if that world was a simulation, the trials and the way they evolved as people wasn't. It was be insane for these people, those that knew them before, to believe that they wouldn't be changed in the slightest. But it's not about these people from before. It's about Lightning, her sister, and her friends. They will be deciding on what to do with their future and who they allow in it.

No one can take that power away from them.

* * *

Junon.

That is what Genesis called this place. It's a city next to the ocean, like Bodhum, but it's nothing like Lightning's old home - or her old home within the simulation? It was massive in size, it's got to be larger than Palumpolum or Nautilus. This place was massive. They flew over a good chunk of the city to get to the base, which was actually stationed on the mountain - and the huge ass cannon.

There wasn't a lot of time to talk, it was only a ten minute helicopter ride and it was loud, but they learned about the corporation that runs this place. Shinra Electric Power Company. He told them that they are sanctioned mainly out of a place called Midgar with Junon being one of their main military bases. It was definitely the largest.

He told them about Shinra being the super power in this side of the world, but couldn't elaborate more because they landed and were immediately rushed away by medical staff at the military base. In the military base they were given the whole shebang. They were given a thorough spray down to get all that nasty green shit that they were floating in off of them, given all sorts of tests, a lot of blood samples were taken and a lot of other tests that didn't seem necessary.

Despite Lightning's protests there wasn't much she could actually do other than let these strangers poke and prod at her and her friends. And they weren't being all that gentle about it at first but when one of them basically stabbed Serah in the arm to pull blood without really saying much and Snow nearly ripped his arm off when throwing the man away, they became a lot more gentle and considerate. It didn't hurt when Lightning and Fang simultaneously jab two other people in the throats for one thing or another.

Genesis showed up not long after that and send cutting glares their way when Lightning or one of her friends complained about the treatment. They were definitely afraid of him. So much so, none of them said anything to him when he began to hover closely. They would all just move around him rather than ask him to move themselves. But he was considerate enough to take a few steps back when he realized he was in the way.

Lightning didn't know Genesis, despite it being obvious that he knew her, but she was actually kind of glad that he was there. Amongst all of these strangers poking and prodding at them, it was a relief to see someone somewhat familiar watching over them, especially since the doctors became a hell of a lot more nicer with him in the room and glaring at their every wrong move. For now, she could relax a bit knowing that this man seemed to have their best interest at heart.

For the moment.

Not long later two men showed up to pull Genesis aside a bit. Judging by his posture, Genesis appeared to be none too please about them being there, but his level of anxiousness that was filling the room minutes before, was ebbing away a bit. Either that, or these two men had a strong enough calming presence to counter-act Genesis' obvious anxiety.

The first one had a shock of red hair on his head. Normally, Lightning would have thought that Genesis was a red head - he is, but compared to this man, it was more orange than red. He has two identical red lines that go from up by the corner of thin eyebrows under the long dangling strands of red hair in his face, to right under bright greenish blue eyes and goggles over his forehead and a single small hooped earring in his left ear. His face was thin and pale, making his eyes appear large and all seeing.

He was dressed in a black suit that appeared to be very snazzy when worn by someone else. The collar of his white shirt was up and un-tucked and he had no tie to pull the suit together. He was clean, just ruffled in a way that appeared purposeful. His stance was even perfectly lazy, leaning on one hip, hands tucked into his pants pockets. She heard his voice, but not the words, and his voice was another perfect representation of this. His words were slow and drawn with an obvious accent that was unfamiliar to Lightning.

But there was no doubt about it. This man, with some kind of rod dangling from one of this belt loops, which conveniently doesn't have a belt through it, was very, very dangerous.

The second man was taller than the first, about as tall as Genesis, without any hair and both of his ears are filled with glittering earrings. His eyes are obscured under thick, black sunglasses that seem like overkill while inside of a building, with a neatly kept goatee that acted as his only real facial identifier. But unlike his partner, he was well dressed up in the same black suit, zipped up to his chest with a nice black tie and even black gloves on his hands. His voice was deep, deeper than Snow's, and slow too, but it appeared as though he wasn't much of a talker and stayed quiet through a majority of the exchange.

He didn't have the same rod that the other man had and his posture was anything but lazy. His back was straight and his hands dangled by his sides at all times and his legs were shoulder width apart. This man was ready to move at a second's notice.

But just like his partner, Lightning sensed that this man was equally dangerous.

After what felt like hours, Lightning and her friends were dressed in 'Infantry relaxed attire' as they called it, which was basically blue baggy pants and a black shirt with a red symbol on the back - Shinra's crest, one of the doctors said when Noel asked what it was. They had to scrounge around and find extra, extra small pairs for people like Serah, Vanille, Yeul and Dajh. Even then, Yeul and Dajh looked like they were swimming in those clothes despite having to alter them quite a bit.

Fang and Lightning managed to make it fit with the extra smalls while the boys found one size or another that would fit them.

"Good, now that you all look ridiculous, but clothed," the red head says, walking over to them, "let's go and talk, yeah?" He does a little half wave before turning around and walking out of the labs. Genesis nods, ushering them along through a complex twist of hallways and stairs until they make it to what appears to be a cleared out cafeteria. The redhead leads them to the middle long table and has them sit while the other man closes and locks all of the doors.

"Hello, ladies and germs," the red head says, looking down at them with an unreadable expression. He pulls out a black device, clicks a few buttons and puts it in the middle of the table before stepping back. "First things, first, for those of you who do not know, and from your blank looks I would say that's all of you, my name is Reno. My quiet friend here is Rude." He gestures toward the bald man, who tips his head in greeting before cupping his hands behind his back and standing at attention. "And we are your friendly neighborhood Turks."

Genesis rolls his eyes before stepping forward. "They are here to assess your... condition, everyone. Some of you have very important jobs or were around important people before your abductions. They are here to see the... extent of what AVALANCHE did to you all."

"AVALANCHE?" Lightning says, being the first to speak up in a while. "What's that?"

"Not a what, dollface," Reno says. "A who. They are a terrorist organization against Shinra. They kidnapped each and everyone of you, and for what? Well, I think I can already tell for the most part."

Vanille, who was staring at the black device on the middle of the table, points to it. "Um, Mr. Reno, what is that?"

"Just Reno," Reno says, "and that's a recording device so my superiors can hear our conversation later."

"Sure," Lightning says, uninterested in any of that. "What can you tell us?"

Reno turns greenish blue eyes down to her. "You first, Claire."

Lightning narrows her eyes, mistrustfully. "Well, first and foremost, it's Lightning. And as for what's going on, I don't know anything. All I know is that everything I know is a lie. Someone constructed a life we thought were ours only for that to be a lie. A simulation." She shakes her head. "I don't know what to tell any of you."

Reno turns and looks at Rude for a moment, not saying anything before looking back over at them. "Alright, then lets start with names. I introduced us, so, why don't you tells us all your names?"

"Lightning Farron, my sister Serah," Lightning says, gesturing to Serah next to her.

"Snow Villiers."

"Sazh Katzroy, my boy, Dajh."

"Hope Estheim..."

"Fang Yun Oreba."

"Vanille Dia Oreba!"

"Noel Kreiss."

"Paddra Nsu Yeul," Yeul says, voice soft.

Reno nods slowly, looking at each of them in turn. "Okay, tell me everything about this simulation."

All of the attention turns to Lightning. She was the impromptu leader of their group. As soon as all of the eyes turned to Lightning, Reno immediately picked up on the shift in power and looks to Lightning. "Well, Lightning," he says, using her preferred name easily enough without even the slightest shift in expression, "let's hear it."

Lightning tells them, everything. From the first thirteen days, to her time in Valhalla and watching over Serah and Noel, to her time as the Savior, searching the tatter remains of their world trying to save everyone she could before the last thirteen days were up. She talked about all of the people they met, all the trials they went through and even told them about Bhunivelze and finally being free. Or at least what they thought was freedom until the Bartholomew failsafe was activated upon their conquering of the final boss. The evil God.

After she finished with her story, ending with when they woke up, Reno frowned deeply. "You said sleeper agents, right?"

Lightning nods. "That's what the failsafe said."

Reno pulls out his phone taking a minute to sift through something before handing it to Lightning. "Read all of those, not out loud, though."

Lightning stares at him blankly for a moment before looking down at all of the nonsense words scribbled across the screen. Once she was done, she looked back up at the red haired man. "What the hell did I just read?"

"All known AVALANCHE activation words," Reno says simply. "Now pass it along so that everyone can read it. Since you didn't react, they must not have gotten to this stage of the conditioning, but we have to be thorough."

Lightning does as she's told and passes it on. Everyone reads the phone with no change in them at all before Yeul, being the last one, hands the phone back to Reno, who types a few things before snapping the phone closed and putting it into his pocket.

"See?" Genesis says, crossing his arms over his chest. "I told you they were fine."

"We are just doing our jobs, general," Rude says. Genesis sighs, but falls silent again. Reno doesn't even turn to look at them.

"Aright, I'm sure you've got some questions, I'll answer what I can," Reno says, grabbing a chair from a different table and sits down after spinning it around backwards. "Shoot."

"First off," Lightning says, "who are all of us?"

"Depends on what you mean," Reno says simply. "What are your names? Or who are you in our world?"

Serah's eyebrows pull together. "Our names are wrong?" There was a hint of alarm in her voice.

Reno waves his hand around. "Not al of you, in fact, only one of you has the wrong name."

There is a moment of baited silence before Fang snaps, "Are ya gonna make us guess?"

"Oh," Reno says, shaking his head. "No, it's the girl on the end here. What did you say? Paddra Nsu Yeul?"

Yeul doesn't respond, her green eyes slightly widened. Noel puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "What's her real name, then?"

"Yeul," Reno says. "Yeul Ballad."

Everyone's eyebrows shoot up.

"As in Caius Ballad?" Lightning asks.

"Caius is alive?" Yeul asks softly, eyes even wider.

"Yep," Reno says, folding his arms across the back of the chair. "He's alive and well, my dear. He's one of our most powerful First Class SOLDIERs."

"Before you ask," Genesis says, when Hope's mouth opened up. "I'm a SOLDIER. We are separated by classes. Third being the newer recruits, Second being our advanced opperatives and First being the best of the best. I'm actually a good friend of Caius'. He'll relieved to have you back at last, Yeul."

Yeul blinks slowly a few times. "Is Caius... my father..?"

"No," Genesis says. "Well, not biologically. You're his adoptive daughter. You were actually a friend's daughter but he died in our fight against AVALANCHE and just before you were kidnapped, Caius formally adopted you."

Noel shakes his head in disbelief but says nothing while Yeul sits back in her seat, taking a moment to think about this new information.

"What about us?" Fang says, drawing the SOLDIERs eyes to her. "I know there's got to be something between us."

Genesis frowns again, lips pressing together tightly. "We..." he hesitates before just sighing, shoulders drooping. He looks up at Fang with sad eyes. "You, Fang, are my fiancé. Or... well, you were..." he frowns even deeper at his own words. "We met during one of my many adventures in Wutai. I was a teenager at the time, so I brought you and your cousin out to Midgar with me so that you could start a new life after a lot of shit went down with your tribe."

"My cousin?" Fang says, as if she didn't understand right away, and then she did, jerking her head to the girl next to her. "Vanille!"

"We're cousins!" Vanille says, green eyes blown wide. "I can't believe it!"

"Serah and I are still sisters, right?" Lightning says, frowning.

"Yes," Reno says, cutting Genesis off. The taller red head glares down at the back of the other man's head but says nothing. Reno ignores the look. "So, I'll explain a bit about what all of you mean to the company. Ms. Ballad, as you already heard, you are the daughter of one of our SOLDIERs. Mr. Kriess, you... have a particular interest to us in the Turk department-"

"What does that mean?" Noel asks, eyebrows pulled together tightly.

"You're a trainee for the Turks," Rude says.

"Vanille, you're the assistant of the assistant of one of our directors, Scarlett," Reno says, moving on as if he wasn't interrupted. "Fang, you know what you are to Genesis, but you are also a survivalist trainer for our SOLDEIR cadets. Mr. Esthiem, your father is one of the top scientists that assist in the our space exploration program under director Palmer. Mr. Katzroy, while your son isn't of any technical importance to the company, you are one of our most experienced helicopter pilots and at one point, our most trusted," he says.

"As in," Rude says slowly, "before you were kidnapped, you flew the VIPs of the company from point A to B. Turk, and executive passengers were a regular thing for you."

"Right," Reno says, "Mr. Villiers, you were one of our First Class SOLDIERs under General Sephiroth. Ms. Farron, you are this guy," he jerks his chin in Snow's direction, "fiancé, and the niece of one of our other director, Reeve Tuesti. Same with you Ms. Farron," this time to Lightning, "and you are the fiancé to our top general and SOLDIER, Sephiroth."

No one speaks for a long time, taking a moment to really absorb the information being fed to them.

"Well," Snow says, looking down at Serah, "at least now I don't have to kill whoever else you could have been engaged to if it wasn't me."

Serah lets out a surprised laugh, not having expected that. "Well," she says, smiling faintly, "at least we have that going for us." She puts her hand on Snow's, letting their fingers intertwine for the first time in what feels like forever.

"So why us?" Hope asks, crossing his arms over his chest. "Judging by what you're saying about our lives that we have high connections within Shinra. And since these guys are terrorists then..." he frowns. "Wait, so, they kidnap us, condition us to be super soldier sleeper agents and then, what? Return us to the company expect that none of you will suspect something like this?"

Reno shakes his head. "Who knows what they were thinking? I'm sure Sephiroth will enjoy asking Elfie when they meet again."

"Who's Elfie?" Sazh asks. "Is she like, the leader of this rag tag group?"

Reno nods, looking pleased. "Something like that, yeah."

"So," Serah says softly. "We have an uncle, Light..."

Lightning turns to look at her sister, nodding slowly. "Yeah, it would seem that way, huh?" She looks down at the metal table for a moment, looking at her blurry reflection. An uncle? She looks up at Reno, "We have an uncle? Does that mean you know who our parents are?"

"Yes," Reno says. "Your father is Alexander Farron, he used to be a scientist that worked alongside Professor Gast and Professor Hojo many years ago. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years back after your mom and dad divorced and your mom remarried."

"What?" Serah gaps, jumping to her feet, making everyone jump in surprise. "Our mother is alive?"

"How the hell did you get that?" Snow asks, eyes wide.

"Yes..." Reno says, staring at Serah like she's going to leap across the table and assault him in the next few moments.

"And she remarried?" Lightning says, turning around to look at Reno. "No, no, as much as I want to know, I would rather talk to her about it. So what are we going to do now?"

Reno stands up, pushing the chair back into it's place. "For now, nothing. You'll stay here for tonight until we get order from the top but if I'm presumptuous enough to assume what the big wigs are thinking, then we'll be able to bring you to Midgar sometime tomorrow or the next day. Until then, we'll have you stay here."

No one argued. No one knew what to say. This was a whole lot for all of them to get thrown at them at once. They'll definitely need some time to really think about it.

There was a large room with a bunch of beds stuffed in there all thrown together waiting for them. There would be guards posted around the area, they would just have to talk to them if they needed anything. Lightning isn't sure they would be taking them up on that, but it was nice to know at least. It wasn't the most favorable conditions but at least it was a wall to put between them and the rest of the world for a little while. This would be the first time since they woke up that they would be able to talk amongst themselves.

Once they were alone, everyone gathered around the beds in the middle of the room and looked around at one another. Looking from face to face to see if anyone else knew what to do with today.

"What the actual fuck was all of that?" Fang finally asks. "Was that just nonsense to me or was it to nonsense to others too?"

"I don't know..." Yeul says softly. "There was a lot that made sense with our situation... and I didn't sense any deceit coming from him."

"I have to agree with Yeul," Vanille says. "If this really is our world, then it all kind of connects with us... I think."

"Isn't it strange though?" Snow asks, resting his right ankle on his left knee. "I mean, that we all happened to be the ones kidnapped? That we all knew each other?"

"Maybe not so," Hope says. "It seems like one way or another, we are all connected to this large corporation. This looks to be a strike against them, not us. We're actually just tools being used to attack them."

"Besides," Lightning cuts in. "Who ever said that we all knew each other? We could have all never crossed paths with one another before the abduction. It feels like we know each other now, but that was because of the simulation, we could have never spoken a single word to anyone here outside of the natural connections that still exist."

"Light and I are still sisters. Snow and I are engaged to one another. Sazh and Dajh are still obviously father and son and now Vanille and Fang are cousins. Other than that, we don't know if we've ever had any connection to one another before all of this," Serah rationalizes. "Maybe it really isn't all that far out of the realm of possibilities."

"There is still something I don't get," Vanille says. "Why us? I think Hope figured it out half way through his question, but I still don't get it."

Everyone looks over at the boy genius. "Well," Hope says, "let's start with something simple. Me. My dad apparently is a scientist working under a director of this company. Through my dad, I could get to this director if I was sleeper agent. Same thing with Light and Serah and their uncle and you too Vanille, being the assistant of the assistant or whatever of another director."

"These SOLDIERs sound like the elite of the elite," Lightning says, picking up where Hope left off. "If Fang and I are engage to two of their generals, those are two high profile targets," she shivers, not used to the idea of being engaged to someone she doesn't even know. "And Snow is one of them. Judging by the looks of this military base, if they are anything like home, then the SOLDIERs might sleep in barracks. Have one sleeper agent amongst dozens of sleeping super soldiers, and there is a real issue."

"Not to mention," Sazh says slowly, cupping his chin with his right hand, "if I fly around important people, any number of things could go wrong."

"That's not everyone," Lightning says, frowning. "But it's enough to get the point across. Although it sounds like we didn't finish the conditioning training before Genesis showed up."

No one spoke again for a long time. Everyone just spent the time listening to each other breath and shift on the creeky, uncomfortable army cots, before Yeul finally looked around, as if hearing something that no one else was hearing.

"What's wrong, Yeul?" Noel asks, settling a hand on her shoulder.

Yeul's eyebrows pull together for a moment, as if trying to understand something before her eyes widen slowly and she looks over at Lightning. "Something like Genesis is coming. Something just as powerful. No, two of them."

"SOLDIERs?" Snow guesses.

Yeul shakes her head. "I don't know. But they aren't alone."

Lightning closes her eyes for a moment, reaching out with her senses, trying to feel what the young Seeress can feel. But it's an old ability that she didn't have to use while the Savior and now it feels rusty. But once she gets it again, she finds it immediately, jolting in surprise at how she couldn't believe that she couldn't feel it before. She couldn't believe the revelation that hit her at that moment.

"What...?" Lightning gaps, eyes snapping open. "What in the world...?"

"What is it, Light?" Fang asks, tilting her head to the side.

Before Lightning could answer, Yeul softly chimes in, "Savior, it is a fal'Cie. A powerful fal'Cie is heading our way."

"It's not just a fal'Cie," Lightning says, voice soft and eyes wide, trained on something beyond the walls that close them in. "It's... It's..." her eyes widen a fraction of an inch more, if that was possible. How did she knows this? She didn't know. It was like something in the very core of her being knew that her next words were going to be truth. "That's not just a fal'Cie, that's Sephiroth."

 _For the Reviewers:_

 _1\. Meggy: Okay, thanks! I hope you liked it!_

 _2\. Momo: Thank you, and I did. :3_

 _3\. RogueAngel82: Oh, me too! I'm excited for this one! Thanks! I hope that you like it!_

 _4\. nadeshiko-yuna: Alright! Sorry about the wait!_

 _5\. gunner007: Thank you! Yes, I did beat the game. It kind of depends on how you look at it. I wouldn't say he was left behind. He chose to stay behind with the other Yeuls in order to keep the chaos they created in check. Sorry about the long wait!_

 _6\. WhenICanThinkOfSomething: Thank you! Sorry about he wait!_


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